Cancelled sports events for May 29th; Hope for June

Saturday May 29th was going to be a conundrum. The Edmonton Football Team were scheduled to begin play with an exhibition tilt at Commonwealth Stadium against the Calgary Stampeders. The newest member to the Edmonton sports scene the St. Albert Impact WFC were to have had their inaugural game at Riel Recreation Park against their Calgary counterparts. Allwest Powersports, the new promoter of the dirt oval race track at Castrol Raceway, were to have their opening weekend. How was a fan supposed to be at all three events at once?

One by one each event was erased from the calendar.

• On April 21st the CFL officially announced the league is looking for an August 5th start.
• On May 20th, the Impact WFC tweeted the following: “We are working with both the UWS Western Conference and UWS National League to determine next steps based on current restrictions and look forward to announcing plans shortly. Grateful for all your support and patience.“
• On May 25th, the Ginga Ninja Facebook Page (on behalf of Allwest Powersports) posted the following: “NEWS FLASH Castrol Raceway’s Dirt Oval opening weekend has been cancelled. We will update when we have something to report!“

HOPE FOR JUNE

Today, May 26th, the province is set to announce another attempt at a re-opening plan.

With the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League previously stating that their drop date was May 24th, I reached out through Twitter to try and gauge the situation. Here’s their response:

“There is an executive meeting tonight (May 25) where a tentative decision will be made. Then it will be made official depending upon what happens with the re-opening plan. An appropriate communique will then be drafted and distributed.”

On a National level, the Founders Cup (the Jr B Tier 1 Championship) has been cancelled. That’s not to say our very competitive Tier 1 division is already done. One hopes the teams play for provincial bragging rights. Decisions on the Minto Cup (Jr A National Championship) and Presidents Cup (Sr B National Championships) are still under determination. The Presidents Cup was originally scheduled to be hosted by the St. Albert Miners.

MORE HOPE FOR JUNE

The Championship Title defense for the Edmonton Stingers, originally scheduled to commence June 5th, is set for Thursday June 24th. We have all seen how much things can change in a month. Today’s scheduled press conference by the Premier will give the CEBL some guidance as to what that opening day will look like in terms of fans in the stands and additional player safety protocols related to the on-going pandemic.

FC Edmonton‘s league, the Canadian Premier League, has already stated they will be starting in a bubble “mid-June to early July”. Sooner than later, the league and their fans hope to be able to attend games live.

Here’s to good news and new memories! It’s nice to sell hope again.